Work is starting for Germany’s troubled highway

Construction work is starting for the next section of Germany’s controversial A20 Autobahn project. This will provide a bypass around Bad Segeberg in the North of the country. The project has been the subject of numerous legal battles, primarily over its environmental impact, and has been halted on a number of occasions.

The project is being managed by the state-owned roads firm, Autobahn GmbH. Measuring around 10km, Section 3 will link Weede and Wittenborn, bypassing Bad Segeberg and the B206 that runs through the town and suffers heavy congestion at present.

The work forms part of a wider project to build a new highway to the north of the city of Hamburg, which also includes a new tunnel under the River Elbe at Glückstadt.

Meanwhile, in Magdeburg plans are in hand to replace the Ringbrücke that spans the Ernst-Reuter-Allee. The first stage of the project is expected to cost €24.7 million, which includes demolishing and removing the old structure.